32 years ago today, on May 25th 1977, George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope was released in movie theaters. The amazing thing is that most people consider Star Wars to be one of the first huge blockbusters, but it was only initially released in 32 movie theaters. In contrast, The Exorcist II was released on over 700 screens. Of course, the film had incredible per-screen averages and broke numerous box office and attendance records at the few locations playing the movie. And the film eventually expanded to more and more screens.

The film became a huge success, spawning 5 additional live-action films, countless merchandise, theme park rides and even a few television shows. But lets forget for a minute about the prequels and everything since, and go back to the film that started it all. Share your thoughts about A New Hope in the comments below.